Reid A. The Blood of the People: Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra

Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1979. — 288 p.Patterns of Kingship.
Dutch-Occupied Aceh.
The Ethnic Web of East Sumatra.
1942: The Hands Declared.
The Japanese Experience.
The Agents of Revolution in East Sumatra.
Eclipse of the Uléёbalang.
Social Revolution.
Princes, Politicians, and Peasants.
Government Office-holders, 1945-1946.Under the colonial umbrella the peoples of northern Sumatra, like those of neighbouring Malaysia, retained an extravagant array of traditional rulers — sultans, rajas, datuks and uleebalangs. In sharp contrast to its Malaysian counterparts, however, this ruling class met a violent end in Sumatra in 1945-6. This book examines the reasons why this region broke so sharply with its past in what came to be known as its 'social revolution'.
At the same time this is a case study of the Indonesian national revolution, hitherto primarily seen from the viewpoint of Java, in an important region of great ethnic complexity. For some ethnic groups the revolution represented a liberating, popular, peasantsupported movement. Others saw themselves as victims of a revolution made by outsiders.
In Malaysia the balance between a Malay traditional elite and immigrant ethnic groups was similar to that in Sumatra, yet it acted as a barrier to revolutionary change. In more homogeneous Java, revolution occurred without bringing fundamental change to society. In Sumatra, however, the revolution demanded an altogether new identity to override the ethnic categories, and the ethnic competition, of the past.